Audi November Sales Up 5.2%

Audi AG, a unit of German car maker Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE), said Wednesday global November sales were up 5.2% on year at 87,050 vehicles.

Global sales in the first 11 months of the year reached 1,003,900, surpassing the record of 1,003,469 for 2008 as a whole, and 15% above sales in the year-earlier period.

November sales were primarily driven by growth in China and the U.S., as well as stronger demand in Germany, Audi said in a press statement. In China, sales were up 7.2% on the year, at 17,692 cars, while U.S. sales surged 38% to 9,365 cars. In Germany, Audi sold 22,055 cars in November, up 1.0% from a year earlier.

"Despite the high growth of recent months in China, Germany will once again win the head-to-head race among our biggest markets in 2010," managing board member Peter Schwarzenbauer said in the statement.

A high number of orders in recent weeks will help Audi finish the year strongly in December, he added.

Source - WSJ

Audi S4 Engine Wins Ward's Award for Second Year in a Row

HERNDON, Va., Dec., 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- An Audi engine earned a spot on the prestigious Ward's 10 Best Engines Award for the ninth time in the past 11 years. The listing for 2011, just released by Ward's, named the 3.0 TFSI Supercharged DOHC V6 in the Audi S4 among the world's most advanced powertrains.

This marks the second year in a row that the 3.0 TFSI engine in the Audi S4 made the Ward's list.

"Audi distinguishes itself through excellence in engineering and there's no better example of that than the 3.0 TFSI Supercharged V6 engine, " said Johan de Nysschen, President, Audi of America. "It's an exceptional demonstration of how Audi pushes to maximize efficiency without reducing performance. We're gratified by this important recognition from the editors of Ward's."

In its 17th year, the Ward's 10 Best Engines competition is designed to recognize powertrains that set new benchmarks in their respective vehicle segments.

"The one thing they have in common is they all are stand-out performers in their own way and sell the value proposition of the vehicles they power," said Drew Winter, editor-in-chief of Ward's AutoWorld magazine.

Tom Murphy, executive editor of Ward's Auto World magazine, speaking for the editors who selected the Ward's 10 Best Engines had this to say about the Audi S4 supercharged V6:

The Audi 3.0 TFSI engine "muscles its way onto the list for a second straight year with a stealthy 333 hp and 325 lb.-ft. (440 Nm) of torque that peaks at 2,900 rpm and holds steady until 5,300 rpm. The effect is all-consuming, washing over the driver like waves on a beach.

"Through it all, the TFSI V-6 manages better than 25 mpg (9.4 L/100 km) on the highway during Ward's evaluation. Having replaced a gas-guzzling 4.2L V-8, the forced-induction V-6 demonstrates how engine downsizing need not come with a performance penalty."

Source - PRNewswire

Oh yes...it is pretty.